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Robert D. Finch: Blacks must speak out against Voter ID bill

Posted: Thursday, December 01, 2005

The recent U.S. Department of Justice memo including the vicious and vile comments of state Rep. Sue Burmeister, R-Augusta, exposes Georgia's Voter ID bill for what it is - a thinly veiled attempt to disenfranchise African-America voters.

The memo paraphrases Burmeister, noting she said "if there are fewer black voters because of this bill (Voter ID), it will only be because there is less opportunity for fraud. She said that when black voters in her precincts are not paid to vote, they don't go to the polls."

What's astonishing is that Burmeister, sponsor of the bill, didn't have a shred of evidence to support her outrageous indictment of African Americans. The memo points out that neither Burmeister nor her GOP colleagues had any basis for passing such a law, confirming critics' views the law, now barred from enforcement by the federal courts, was ill-conceived.

Burmeister's comments beg one question. Since when have African Americans needed to be paid to vote? The GOP has forgotten African Americans, and sympathetic whites, fought and died for the right to vote. Burmeister's comments are an affront to those who sacrificed much in hopes of achieving equality in civic and democratic participation. The saddest part is that her voice represents the racially insensitive tenor of Georgia's GOP. Trust me, if African Americans were paid to vote, there wouldn't be a single Republican in office.

The GOP's efforts to turn back the clock run from its lowest ranks to the White House. Even now, the GOP-controlled Congress is trying to do away with some protections of the Voting Rights Act.

African Americans, often regarded as America's conscience, must now speak with one voice and rise in opposition to efforts to obliterate years of progress in racial healing and equality.